Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House and wish him well in this job. I hope he will retain his portfolio because I have no doubt he will do a great job in the tourism portfolio, as he has done in the previous portfolios he has held.

There is no doubt, as referred to by previous speakers, that the tourism industry is doing well in Dublin but poorly in the regions. One must ask the reason for that. If one stays in a hotel in Dublin, one need only ask tourists what regions will they visit. They will tell one that they will visit a particular region. If one asks them why they want to go to that region, they will tell one that they read about it in an international guide or that a porter in the hotel told them that this would be a good route to go. The Minister must ensure all the regions have an even share of the industry to enable them all to prosper and so that some do not get preferential treatment or a better write-up than other regions in international magazines. That area should be addressed.

One wonders why tourists travel here. They do not come for the sun because we get more rain than sun. It must be due to our hospitality and our friendliness. Many people left our shores many years ago and often some of their relations or offspring like to come here to where their relatives came from.

There is much we can do to promote tourist activities other than golf, although golf has been good to us. The holding of the Ryder Cup here was probably not as good for tourism as it could have been as the weather on that occasion was pretty poor. We have been pricing ourselves out of the market in recent years. Services in the country have become expensive. As one who is involved in the catering business, I appreciate the difficulties faced by hotel proprietors, owners of bed and breakfast establishments and those in the catering business, providing tourist accommodation or working in the service industry. What with bills for electricity, refuse, water, insurance and wages, it is an expensive market in which to trade and many people are experiencing grave difficulties.

There are one or two activities that are not being exploited at all. Water sports, particularly sea sports, is one such activity. The north Sligo coast is a renowned surfing area which should be further developed. Hill walking and mountaineering are other activities that should be exploited. In that context, I compliment Councillor Paddy McGuinness of Mayo County Council, who has been a great advocate of walking and mountaineering. He has initiated a plan at county council level and the council has put in place funding to designate walking routes within County Mayo. Those routes will be signposted and upgraded, with proper stiles and so forth. He has received excellent co-operation from the county manager, the other councillors and officials. There are a number of recognised and unrecognised routes in County Mayo and I presume it is the same for every other county in the country. Much could be done in this area. The Civil Defence could have an important role in this regard.

If marketed properly, walking, hill walking and mountaineering could lead to a great expansion in the tourist industry. This, coupled with the promotion of water sports, should be given more attention. Golfing has become very expensive in this country. Fishing, and particularly deep-sea fishing, could also be exploited more but additional funding is required. Some of the boats that are being taken out of the fishing fleet could be redeployed for tourism initiatives. Grants could be given to boat owners to provide sea-fishing services for tourists, which has enormous potential.

I feel very sad for the bed and breakfast sector. Bed and breakfast as an accommodation option is fast becoming a thing of the past. Most people stay in hotels now when they go on holidays. This is particularly true of family groups. There has been a massive expansion in the number of hotels in the country in the past few years, through business expansion schemes, grants and tax breaks. We have seen enormous growth in the hotel industry. We now have more hotels in this country, per head of population, than anywhere else in the world which is an excellent sign. I presume hotels engage in a lot of independent marketing, as well as benefitting from that done by Fáilte Ireland. The bed and breakfast sector is under severe pressure and the Department should provide it with every possible assistance.

I urge the Minister to examine the possibility of developing hill walking and water sports as they are areas in which considerable expansion is possible.